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Star Wars’ Leading Ladies Will Be Front and Center in Forces of Destiny on July 3rd!

Announced this year at Celebration, Star Wars: Forces of Destiny is a new animated series featuring many classic and newcomers in the Star Wars universe. What makes this series so unique is it features the women of the franchise. There will be classic characters like Princess Leia, Clone Wars (and my favorite character) Ahsoka Tano, Rebels fan fav Sabine Wren, and new characters like Rey, Jyn Erso, and Maz Kanata.

Outside of Shelby Young who takes over the role of Princess Leia with the passing of Carrie Fisher in December, the original cast of all these ladies will redeem their roles. That’s right! This show will have Daisy Ridley, Felicity Jones, Ashley Eckstein, Lupita Nyong’o, and Tiya Sircar lending their talents to the characters people love so much. In the original trailer, we also saw Vanessa Marshall recording in the studio for her role as pilot and Rebel leader, Hera Syndulla. To add to the fun, the male actors get to revise their roles too. We already know Matt Lanter will reprise his Clone Wars role as Anakin Skywalker, and John Boyega will be back as Finn.

The best part? It’s all canon!

Now, we have a brand new trailer for the show:

My buddies over at The Wookiee Gunner (go check them out! They do amazing work!) gave more detail about the release dates and the great merchandise that will be coming:

A new short will premiere online every day at 10am PST/1pm EST, with each short leading up to their broadcast debut on the Disney Channel on Sunday, July 9.

What’s even more exciting is that the series will also be accompanied by a variety of products, including books, apparel, and bedding as well as Hasbro adventure figures and role play items. Merchandise is scheduled to be available starting on August 1.

The only real let down I’ve had so far was the lack of Hera Syndulla. I mentioned above that Vanessa Marshall has recorded for the series. That’s great! But when they released the images of the Forces of Destiny toys, look who was missing from the mix. You guessed it! Hera Syndulla.

I understand why this is happening. This is a brand created for children. Princess Leia is an icon. Rey and Jyn are the big movie characters. Sabine and Ahsoka are the two young women leads in the animated shows. Hera is an adult woman. They’re clearly not aiming for adult women to be the target audience here.

The problem is I’m an adult woman who is a fan totally waiting to get my hands on a Hera figure. Hera is probably one of the most important new characters in the universe. She comes from Ryloth as the daughter of a rebel freedom fighter and political leader. She’s a Twi’lek, a race of people who are often portrayed as exotic dancers, slaves, or under constant invasion. That’s not who the Twi’lek people truly are, and Hera is at the forefront of that. She fought her way off her planet even after losing her mother and dealing with her fanatical father. She’s a rebel leader. We heard in Rogue One that’s she’s a general. The first person to ever fly a B-Wing was Hera. She’s strong, caring, compassionate, and is a central character in Rebels. I know Forces of Destiny is tailored for a younger market, but it’s important to show us that alien women are valid and have interesting stories to tell too. I really want more stories of aliens in the galaxy and not just all the humans always saving the day. Can we have Riyo Chuchi in season two?

Damn it, I’m 30. I want to play with my Hera doll!

Hera Syndulla is a person I hope I can be one day. If Forces of Destiny continues, give Hera her chance in the spotlight.

I don’t want to downplay how amazing this show will be. It’s a huge step for Star Wars to have their ladies in the forefront. I am incredibly excited for it. The Wookiee Gunner stated it best:

For many fans out there, this series is more than just a show, it’s a celebration of the women who have been integral in the Star Wars galaxy. In a world where gender continues to be a highly charged subject, it’s important to expose children (and adults) to different types of heroes. Forces of Destiny promises to do just that.

Forces of Destiny will debut on Disney’s Youtube Channel on July 3rd and on the Disney Channel July 9th.

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Hope set out into the world to be a Pokemon Coordinator. When she realized that Pokemon were not real, she pursued her other passion: writing.
Hope was raised in fandoms and saw how they can help save the world from her work with The Harry Potter Alliance. Now, she works to bring that love into writing one article at a time.
She's also a diehard Atlanta Braves fan, so don't diss her team.